


Sidewalk Chalk Covered in Snow (It's Nice to Have a Friend)

by sweeterthankarma



Series: Pride Month Prompts 2020 [28]
Category: Atypical (TV 2017)
Genre: Baking, F/F, Short & Sweet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:33:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24976168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweeterthankarma/pseuds/sweeterthankarma
Summary: Everything seems to be connected to Izzie now, everything good or bad that comes with the season or with school or just with life in general, and of course, Izzie makes it all better.
Relationships: Casey Gardner/Izzie
Series: Pride Month Prompts 2020 [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769956
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40





	Sidewalk Chalk Covered in Snow (It's Nice to Have a Friend)

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Pride Month and welcome to my first ever month-long fic challenge! For thirty days, I'll be writing and posting LGBTQ+ fics inspired by the prompts listed [here](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/517562182177703635/). These fics will be anywhere from 100-1,500 words, will be for different fandoms, ships and characters, and will all stand alone. Here goes nothing!
> 
> Day 28 Prompt: Winter is...
> 
> Title comes from the song "It's Nice to Have a Friend" by Taylor Swift.

Winter is different when you’re in love. Casey has learned this.

Instead of dreading the bitter cold that greets her every time she steps outside, she swaths her throat and most of her face with Izzie’s heavy wool scarf, plaid and frayed at the edges but smelling like her perfume and reminding her of her girlfriend even as she stands right beside her. Casey doesn’t mind the clunky mittens she ended up shoving into her backpack; her favorite ones that feel like practically nothing and don’t look like they were designed for and by her grandmother (no offense to Grandma Gardner, of course) are at home swirling around in the wash because Casey forgot to toss them in yesterday. Today’s mittens may be soft, so much so that they’re making her palms sweat (and itch a little, though she doesn’t care when it’s below freezing outside) but there’s not a single doubt in her mind that she favors the warmth from Izzie’s own gloved fingers more. 

She holds onto her tight as they walk towards her car, talking about homework or friends or a dream she had when she fell asleep in algebra class, and Casey listens attentively, always hanging onto every word Izzie says. Izzie catches stray snowflakes on her tongue when they stop for Casey to find her keys, and it takes all of her strength not to forget about them and kiss the chill off Izzie’s mouth. She’s weak, though, and she fails, giving in just as she does every time Izzie does this. And she does it a lot since it always seems to be snowing lately, and once she starts kissing Izzie, it’s hard to stop. When a passing driver honks at them as they pass by, Casey should be irritated by it, but she’s not. It’s her own fault, she set them up for this, and besides, she’s a little too caught up with, well,  _ everything  _ about Izzie to function properly. It takes her another solid minute to get her brain to work again and allow her to look for her keys with actual intent, especially after Izzie presses her up against the door of the passenger side and slips her tongue into her mouth, tasting of spearmint gum. 

Nearly every day after school they bake something, usually cookies, procrastinating their homework more than usual to burn their tongue on the chocolate drenched dough. Izzie makes a comment early on in their attempts about never having enough ingredients at home to do more than make boxed brownies, if she’s even lucky enough to do that, and Casey would be lying if that simple sentence wasn’t enough to motivate her to continue on with their newfound tradition almost every afternoon from then on. Even when she’s more so in the mood to take a nap or watch a movie cuddled up by Izzie’s side, she encourages their snack and finds herself rewarded by the way Izzie’s eyes light up at her suggestion— and the way that she always dumps in far more chocolate chips than necessary.

Casey isn’t one to complain, and besides, everyone else in her house claims they’re the best cookies they’ve had, even Sam. They’re always gone by the morning— Casey’s pretty sure her dad is eating platefuls in the middle of the night when everyone else is sleeping— so it just gives them even more of an excuse to make another batch the next day.

Of course, cookies and baking aren’t exclusive to winter, but it’s something that Casey doesn’t do nearly as often in the summertime. Besides, now that she does it so much with Izzie, she connects it to her without even meaning to. Everything seems to be connected to Izzie now, everything good or bad that comes with the season or with school or just with life in general, and of course, Izzie makes it all better. 

Izzie and Casey make another ritual of skating at the rink almost every weekend. Izzie is good, effortless, literally angelic, something Casey tells her far too often. She glides across the ice with an ease that seems to defy gravity, making Casey’s eyes widen in fear and then amazement every time she opts for a leap— oftentimes in a precarious section of the rink, either at a curve and surrounded by wobbling children, or both— and ends up absolutely nailing it.

She’s not as graceful outside of Casey’s house, almost always hitting a patch of ice that she’s well aware of but still always seems to fall victim to. She slips at least once a week and takes Casey down with her almost every time. Even though Casey’s entire side throbs with the impact, a bruise sure to form in the coming hours and last the rest of the week, if not longer, she laughs. Izzie does the same, and Casey makes a little note of the moment, tries to memorize it and ingrain it into her mind. When it’s ninety degrees and the pavement feels like it could boil and melt away and down the street, she’ll miss this. Casey will remember that winter was different,  _ better  _ when she was in love, and she’ll know that summer will be just as good, because she still is. 

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi and celebrate pride month with me on Tumblr [here.](https://sweeterthankarma.tumblr.com/)


End file.
